Welcome to the Fishing Report. It is a beautiful, warm sunny morning in Townsend, Tennessee. The high temperature today is supposed to be 76 degrees. We may see 80 degrees tomorrow. An angler was perched on the big rock under the swinging bridge this morning. He told me he planned to fish the Clinch but TVA was pouring water through Norris Dam. The guy was in a perfect spot to catch a trout. TWRA stocked plenty of them last week.

The water level in the river has dropped to below normal. This morning the flow is 331 cubic feet per second compared to median flow for this date of 407 cfs. The water temperature was 54 degrees at 8:25 am.

It certainly looks like Spring around here. Many of the trees in the foothills are green now. Not so in the higher elevations. Anglers are on the streams, rivers and lakes. Anticipation is high. Fishing is improving. Numerous species of aquatic insects are hatching on the Park streams. Fishing is very good. The water temperature is reaching the trout’s preferred range. Their metabolism is running high, they need food and they are finding it easily. The full moon and clear skies make feeding at night easier for them.

Trout will take about anything. More anglers are reporting using nymphs. But others are catching fish on dry flies. I would use gray mayfly imitations now. Most of the ones you see hatching are gray or dark. Quill Gordons and Blue Quills are the most popular insects to mimic right now.

I mentioned heavy generation schedules at Norris Dam. It’s that way throughout the TVA and Alcoa dam system. This is making it tough for anglers who wade in the tailwaters.

Wow! Allen Doty just came by this morning. He and his partner Mark own Cumberland Transit in Nashville. They have been in business since 1982. Allen has been a good friend of mine for many years. He and his partner Mark helped us when we started this store. My background was in the service sector. I knew nothing about retail. I learned a lot from Allen.

Cumberland Transit is the coolest outdoor store I’ve ever been in. They cater to fly fishermen, hikers, backpackers, paddlers and bicyclists. They’ve got it all, including a large knowledgeable and friendly staff. If you run into “Grumpy” on message boards or on the river, he works with Allen. The folks at CT are great to be around and good for our industry.

We held our last 2011 Troutfest Committee meeting yesterday. We had 20 members attend. What a group of talented people. You could not find a better bunch of people in a non-profit organization or organizations that can get something like this done so well. We have met four times during the past year starting in August 2010. We all have our jobs and we do them well. Within our large committee are tiny sub-committees. Troutfest is all about autonomy. It is part of our DNA. I guess we evolved into a group of people who like to be in charge of a portion of the event and want to do it their way. I’m one of them. But, everyone offers advice to the others. That’s really why we meet. The actual decision and implementation is up to the person in charge or the folks in the small sub-committees.

There will be some new additions to Troutfest this year. We have two new headliners, Tom Rosenbauer and Zach Matthews joining Lefty, Bob and Joe.

We have a new magazine called the Troutfest Journal. It will be printed next week in full color. There are some great articles. The advertisers paid more than the production costs so it is already profitable. We hope to sell 1,500 of them at $5 each. We are printing 2,000 copies. That will be new profit center for Troutfest and it will be larger next year. This was the brainchild of Neil Smith. He has done a great job on this project.

The Tennessee Council of Trout Unlimited will host an appreciation dinner for volunteers and vendors on Saturday night. We expect about 200 people for that event. George Lane is in charge of that. It will be fun.

There is more to tell you about but I’m out of time and late with the report today.

Our fly fishing classes will be offered from March to October 2011. To sign up just call the shop at 877-448-3474. You can read more on our website in the Schools Section. The fly fishing class schedule follows:

Saturday March 26 – Beginner Day One
Saturday April 9 – Beginner Day One
Saturday April 30 – Beginner Day One
Sunday May 1 – Beginner Onstream Day Two
Saturday May 7 – Beginner Day One
Saturday May 21 – Beginner Day One
Sunday May 22 – Beginner Onstream Day Two
Saturday June 11 – Beginner Day One
Saturday June 25 – Beginner Day One
Sunday June 26 – Beginner Onstream Day Two
Saturday July 9 – Beginner Day One
Saturday July 23 – Beginner Day One
Sunday July 24 – Beginner Onstream Day Two
Saturday September 10 – Beginner Day One
Saturday September 24 – Beginner Day One
Sunday September 25 – Beginner Onstream Day Two
Saturday October 8 – Beginner Day One
Saturday October 22 – Beginner Day One
Sunday October 23 – Beginner Onstream Day Two